China A-Z: Six Companies You Should Know About

From A: AEE Technology ? to Z: Zhongyin Battery, China has had a plethora of companies represented at the just finished Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Many, as expected, are manufacturing companies.

The phrase Made in China conjures up oddball toys, gadgets, child labor, poor working conditions, poorly made products and cheap knockoffs. Although that reality has not been eradicated, the attending companies are trying desperately to change the world’s opinion. Their company profiles emphasize certifications of quality and corporate concern for the betterment of the employees.

Older industrial parks on the mainland still reflect the communist architecture ? flat, dull, with employees living where they worked, in crowded, dreary dormitory style housing.

However, newer facilities and attitudes reflect the desire to modernize and provide a positive front to the outside world. As a traveler, I experienced both in this enigmatic country.

Typical of the rethinking and repositioning within Chinese companies is the Foxda Technology Company’s claim to have been accredited with certificates for Quality ISO9001, Environment ISO14000 and SA8000 Social Responsibility.

Foxda has corporate offices in Hong Kong. Their manufacturing facilities are part of a company-owned industrial park in Shenzhen. It includes working and living areas, a dining and entertainment district and an employee library which "enriches the employees’ afterhours life."

Looking to add to their already 4,000 employees, Foxda’s website indicates that they have a range of exciting positions available for talented university graduates, including software engineers. With some imagination, by reading their stated intentions, you can get a feel for how they are trying to value their employees by:

Lifting of employees’ spiritual levels and reforming of individual behavior.

Scientific, modern and humanistic enterprise management.

Maximization of enterprise’s economic benefits and optimization of individual development of employees.

Those employees focus on designing and manufacturing mobile phones, portable video cameras, music players and personal media players. Foxda claims more than 100 national and international patents; for example, a Three-in-One technology of USB, headphones, and Line-In jack. Their clients include RCA, Koss, Hitachi and Grundig.

Early in 2010, the company held a Spring Festival Evening in the Foxda industrial park, saying that "various wonderful programs fully reflected the employees pleasant working life." Later that year, Foxda said that according to Shenzhen city minimum salary standard rules, they had raised the employees’ monthly wage to 1100 CNY (currently equal to $165.90 USD) with overtime pay rate calculated according to the new regulation.

Another Chinese high tech company that places emphasis on their legitimacy is AEE Technology. They have 3C, FCC, CE certifications and ISO9001/ISO14001 certification in China. Lodged in their own Hi Tech Park in Nanshan District, the R&D manufacturer and sales company specializes in the development and application of wireless AV transmission technology.

AEE’s products are used by police and military. The company describes the high resolution digital video camera, the PD91, as working automatically when a gun is used. It supports AVI video format, 640×480 @30(max)fps, has built-in 8GB Micro SD card and can take a 32GB Micro SD card. There is a built-in MIC for video and audio recording synchronously, with a USB 1.1/2.0 port, all powered by a built-in rechargeable six hour Li-battery.

From the serious to the sublime, fashion and fun play a role in China. Chinasnow Industry, Art Laser, located in Shenzhen is proud of their R&D in high quality laser systems for indoor entertainment, outdoor shows, events, lighting applications and multimedia use.

Art Laser creates their projectors with top grade laser diode to ensure longevity and stability. The lasers range in power from 30mw to 65W.

They are used in night clubs, karaoke lounges, private villa gardens and theme parks. They can be applied to advertising, landmark tower beaming or a pop music concert. You can see one of their shows at their website.

If sitting in your own home theater instead of a karaoke bar, is your cup of tea, Oolong preferably, look into Ocean Sound Technology. They manufacture Hi-Fi speakers, power subwoofers, public address speakers and home theater speaker systems at their major R&D and production facility in Dong Guan City, Guangdong, China.

The factory employs 800 workers and 60 quality control personnel. Their All-in-one (AIO) is a home theatre speaker system, suitable for small rooms, with magnetic shielded speakers to protect LCD/ Plasma TVs. The company also makes radio systems for the iPod.

The AR-9188i is an AM/FM digital radio, with 2.1 channel high quality sound system with iPod universal dock,USB/SD card slot,PC-iPod synchronies connection, LCD display with blue backlight and preset station capability. It also includes a 32 key, full function remote control; clock with sleep/alarm timer; preset EQ (class, pop, rock, jazz and flat) and stereo headphone jack. Don’t get too excited about ordering one, however. Sales are by the container load.

Next on our list is a company with an odd name that makes odd gadgets. It is Peter Fish Ltd in Kowloon, Hong Kong. They offer a watch phone, the Earzee.It has a 1.5-inch OLED touch screen, quad-band GSM 800/1900/900/1800, Bluetooth 2.0, MP3/MPEG-4 media player, external memory, microSD Card, with a multi-language interface and is WAP/GPRS supported.

We end our list from the International Gateway of CES with Z. The Zhongyin Battery Company is the largest alkaline battery manufacturer in China, and offers a full series of environment friendly batteries. Their computer-controlled automatic assembly lines have a production capacity of 3.0 billion alkaline batteries.

A joint venture formed by Gold Peak Industries and Ningbo Sonluk Battery Company, Zhongyin produces under two brand names, Pairdeer and Sonluk. The company has always devoted itself to environment protection. In 1999, the company was producing mercury-free alkaline manganese batteries. Zhongyin has heavily invested in researching and developing the alkaline battery, the disposable lithium battery and the lithium ion battery.

Along with many of its country’s other enterprises, Zhongyin proudly notes that their company passed the audit of ISO9001:2000 Research and Development Center and ISO14001:1996 Environment Management System conducted by the world-renowned Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and were issued certificates.

Community pride and social responsibility are aspects of Zhongyin. For 10 years, they have sponsored Bayi Rocket Basketball Team in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Five years ago, the Zhongyin Charitable Foundation was set up to build a Pairdeer Hope Elementary School in Sichuan province to help those children in an impoverished mountain area get an education.

From A to Z, you can readily see the progress and impact of Chinese companies in the world of consumer electronics.